Moving Beyond the ‘Tried & True’ Building A More Robust Live Smart Texas Coalition Mike Lopez, MUP Steering Committee Member, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Who we Are Coalition of organizations and individuals who work together to address the state’s obesity epidemic, especially in children Founded in 2007 Members represent interdisciplinary sectors including: policy/advocacy, education, government, academia/research, professional associations, and local community groups Approximately 200 members statewide

What we do Connect and build relationships with others to reduce obesity rates in Texas SOS Texas State Meeting Partnership for a Healthy Texas Access opportunities to engage in collaborative research and community partnerships Texas CORD Texas Grow! Eat! Go! Transforming Texas: Healthy People in Healthy Communities Texas Childhood Obesity Prevention Policy Evaluation Project Share best practices with and learn from the experience of other coalition members Texas Health Champion Award Ceremony Shaping Policy for Health Workshop Create a united obesity prevention policy agenda 2013 Texas Health Perception Survey Share and bring resources to address concerns that affect every region of Texas Quarterly Newsletter Quarterly Webinars

How we Operate Leadership provided by: Co-Chairs: Steering Committee: Drs. Diane Dowdy & Leah Whigham Steering Committee: members from state-level organizations Regional Representatives 8 Health Service Regions State-level orgs include: UTHealth School of Public, Texas A&M School of Public Health, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Action for Healthy Kids, Texas Association of City and County Health Officials, Texas Department of State Health Services

How we communicate Co-Chairs Steering Committee LST Membership When we started LST – our communication with members was very linear The Co-Chairs and Steering Committee would meet monthly and discuss challenges and successes related to obesity and create a plan on how to solve the issue. Then the Steering Committee was responsible for disseminating the plan to the LST membership LST Membership

How we communicate Co-Chairs Steering Committee Statewide Organizations Regional Representatives Now – we still have meetings between our co-chairs and steering committee to discuss how to support our communities as they work to combat childhood obesity. but – we had determined in 2015 that our steering committee was too Austin centric and we weren’t doing the best job of including those outside Central Texas SO – we added Regional Representatives to the steering committee so each of the Health Service Regions is represented and we can learn more about what is working and where we can improve AND – with the addition of the Regional Representatives, we are able to increase the communication between the membership and the steering committee – it is no longer a one-way street LST Membership State Org Members Region Members

How we sustain Funding / Support Active Leadership Engagement Leverage Obesity Prevention Efforts / Events Funding Michael & Susan Dell Center at the UTHealth School of Public provides financial support for the support personnel and the LST website Several organizations provide donations and in-kind support to the yearly Texas Health Champion Ceremony which is co-sponsored by the Center for Healthy Living and LST

What’s next Clearinghouse Communication / Social Media Special Events Clearinghouse – create and maintain a clearinghouse of Texas-related obesity information and resources; all items will be reviewed by LST leadership before posting to make sure only evidence-based information is being provided; it will be a one-stop shop for any organization working to prevent child obesity in their community Communication – using several tools to get information out to our members in a timely manner: twitter, newsletter, webinars Special Events – cohost the Texas Health Champion Award Ceremony each September and lead the State Team meeting each year at SOS

Thank You! To Connect with Us @LiveSmartTexas www.livesmarttexas.org LiveSmartTexas@uth.tmc.edu